MG have shown that they have a much better car than they did during their maiden campaign last season, and their prowess shown again during qualifying, where they secured another front row lock out, with Tordoff taking his first pole position of the year, Plato behind him on the front row and reigning champ Shedden qualifying 3rd. The only other real surprises from qualifying was Aron Smith taking a career best qualifying result, putting him 6th on the grid, and Matt Neal qualifying outside the top 10.
Race one didn't really produce much action, with the top three drivers finishing in the same places as their start positions, resulting in Tordoff taking his first ever BTCC win. Aron Smith scored a strong 6th place finish, a good result for the Motorbase squad who have struggled to get the Focus up the grid so far this term. Neal managed to climb up into the top ten, finishing 9th and therefore allowing him to run ballast free in the second race.
Race two was much more action packed, as any good touring car race should be. Jordan took another win, after controversial contact with Colin Turkington, who was leading the race but then dropped down to 6th at the end of the race. Matt Neal used his ballast free car to full advantage to climb up to second, while Aron Smith also improved from sixth on the grid to take his and Motorbase's first podium finish of the season. It was a dismal race for Plato, who had to retire due to engine issues.
The final race of the day was just as frantic, with incidents happening left right and centre for the duration of the round. It all started on the opening lap, where a tussle between Newsham and Neal saw both cars spin off, but the pair did manage to rejoin the race. In a separate incident on the same corner, there was contact between Will Bratt and Plato, with the MG driver being sent into the barriers before the car rebounded and rolled, putting Plato out of the race for the second time during the weekend. The other big incident involved Turkington again, as the Irishman had a coming together with Shedden, which resulted in the eBay driver dropping down the order again, with Shedden taking the win and Motorbase duo Mat Jackson and Aron Smith making up the rest of the podium to sum up a spectacular weekend for Dave Bartrum's team.
With not long to go now until Knockhill, the drivers will be eager to get out on track once more, and hopefully we will see three more action packed rounds.
Photo credit: Phil Laughton Photography
